Unlike a ski or a monoski, the board for gliding over snow constituting the snow board is used asymmetrically, the user having neither his body nor his feet directed along the longitudinal axis of the board, but placed at an angle with respect thereto. The surfer's body is placed crosswise with respect to his board with either the right foot at the rear and the left foot in front, for persons with "regular foot", or the left foot at the rear and the right foot in front, for persons with "goofy foot". The distance between the feet depends on the user's morphology and essentially on his size. The toes are more or less turned towards the front of the snow board, this orientation being indicated by an angle measured from the perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the snow board. This orientation may generally vary, for the rear foot, between 0 and 40 degrees about and, for the front foot, between 10 and 45 degrees, the position most in favour with numerous high-level surfers at the present time being the so-called intermediate position:
rear foot: angle of orientation included between 10 and 15 degrees, PA1 front foot: angle of orientation included between 30 and 45 degrees. PA1 a sole for gliding bordered, on each of its sides and over at least the whole of its supporting length, by metal edges, PA1 one or more reinforcing elements, PA1 one or more filling elements, PA1 one or more decorating elements, PA1 of binding mounting (stiffness of binding mounting) PA1 of front end (stiffness of tip) PA1 of rear end (stiffness of heel) PA1 it is slit, in the substantially longitudinal direction and over the whole of its thickness, at least in its front part and in its rear part, PA1 and its stiffness in the front and rear parts, obtained by measuring the deflection "f" obtained by pressing on the board, with a force of 40 Kgf, applied in the middle distance between two supports supporting the board flat and placed, the first on the line of contact, front or rear respectively depending on whether it is question of the stiffness in the front part or of the stiffness in the rear part, and the other at a distance from the first, towards the rear or towards the front respectively, which is equal to: EQU (Lp/2).times.0.55
Be that as it may, the surfer's body is crosswise with respect to the board and to the 20 direction of his displacement. Bends are taken either by leaning forwards, towards the toes (or more simply expressed "front-side"), or by leaning backwards towards the heels (or "back-side"). The surfer's centre of gravity then moves along an axis whose orientation is substantially the bisectrix of the angle formed by his two feet.
Snow surfing is exceedingly popular at the present time, particularly among young people, with the result that snow surf competitions are now being organized, like ski competitions, and the "speed" factor is becoming essential for snow surfboards intended for competitions, and, of course, the capacity of these boards to take bends with maximum precision.
Generally speaking, a board for gliding over snow must be sufficiently rigid in order to penetrate in the snow as little as possible and therefore to slide flat at a maximum speed. On the other hand, in order to inscribe the edge line in a curve when taking a bend, this board must, on the contrary, be as flexible as possible.
These two conditions are contradictory and the whole science of snow board manufacturers consists in finding a good compromise between stiffness and flexibility which will make it possible both to move rapidly flat, while having optimum facility and precision when taking a bend.
It is an object of the present invention to overcome this difficulty and therefore to obtain a snow board which has excellent performances in speed when gliding flat and likewise excellent performances for easy and precise execution of bends.